Motorcycle saddlebags, seats and other leather gear.

When it comes to motorcycle leather gear and accessories you will find there are so many different manufactures and custom designs. All of which will need repairing and conditioning over time. The stitching and the braiding does wear out and the leather will dry out from weather exposure. You also have the issue of accidents and other people just being jerks as they walk past your bike.

Custom leather saddlebags and leather seats cost some money to have made, so why would you not keep that leather conditioned and protected from water damage. Saddle soap is a very good cleaner, conditioner and preserver for your leather saddlebags and seats. Just use a little water to dampen a old clean t-shirt or a horse hair dauber brush and then rub it into the saddle soap and apply to the leather in small circles working the saddle soap into and across the leather. Work the saddle soap into a lather across the saddlebags or the seat whichever you are working on first. Allow the saddle soap to dry a little while after you wipe the excess off. Once it has dried for about ten minutes or so, you can use a horse hair buffing brush or another clean dry t-shirt to buff the leather to a shine which will remove any further excess saddle soap. The saddle soap will have soaked deep into your leather and conditioned, preserved and leaned it. The buffing will bring out a nice shine to the finish.

If the color finish of your leather saddlebags or leather seat has been faded or worn off from the rubbing of your jeans or other clothing, you can restore the color with either dye or polish & wax. Remember that when using dye, polish and wax on leather that will come in contact with your clothing you must use the polish sparingly and buff it especially well to remove as much excess as possible. Using a clear coat fine wax spray will add to the prevention of color transfer to your clothing or use a waterproof spray lightly misted over the leather after polishing to treat the leather. Use the dye first to recolor the leather deep and allow to dry for an hour or two. Lincoln dye is my favorite brand of dye to use. Then use the polish to even out the color that the dye just replaced, since the dye has an odd finish. The polish will add even more color and even some conditioners and even some water protection. You apply the polish with a horse hair dauber brush, a rag or a t-shirt using your fingers working the polish in small circles rubbing it into the leather until there is no excess polish on the surface. Work in small areas such as about 4 to 6 inch areas so that you can buff the polish before it dries. After you have polished and buffed the entire leather article, go back and rebuff the entire leather article with another clean rag or old t-shirt to remove all excess polish and get a really good shine. MELTONIAN polish is one of my favorite polishes to use, it can be bought at most any shoe repair shop. Instead of polishing or after polishing, whichever you choose, go back over the leather article with colored wax and buff to a shine. Lincoln Wax is my favorite wax to use. It also has a lot of color to add to your leather and buffs off great to a fine shine. Apply and buff this wax off in the same way as the polish. Make sure that you use a clean area of your cloth to buff the leather again after you have buffed off the excess wax. You want to make sure that all excess wax has been buffed off. You will have a brilliant shine. The wax will give your leather a great protection from the weather, but you may still want to mist a clear wax over the entire leather article. MASTER SHINE is my favorite spray shine to finish the job. All of these products can be purchased at most shoe repair shops.

The stitching or braiding can wear out or be torn out from long use and just wear over time. Most of this stitching you will have to take to a shoe repair or to a leather repair shop. If one cannot repair it, do not give up, just take it to the next one. Some of the stitching can be done at home, especially if it requires hand sewing. You will need some items and tools to do the hand sewing yourself at home.

For most of these hand sewing issues and types of leather products you will need to get the following tools:  Hook Awl Needle with handle (extra needles)
           Catgut sewing cord (strongest hand sewing thread)
           Colored hand sewing cord to match if possible (tan, brown, black, white, etc.)
           Large needles (for hand sewing with large enough eyes for the catgut thread.)
           Sharp Scissors or knife
These tools can be bought through a shoe repair or you can find a Tandy Leather Factory store to buy the supplies you need to do the job that you are working on. You should be able to get further advice from either source on how they would go about repairing the article as well.

For most of these leather articles listed above, you will be able to sew the seams that use a heavy thread or cord such as the catgut cord using the large needle and the catgut threat. The catgut thread is a natural type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines, especially sheep. The other hand sewing threads are strong and do come in different colors which can give you a better match in shades.

Look over your leather article, such as your saddlebag or seat to get a good idea of the stitching that you are about to repair. You want to make sure that you can follow the same stitch pattern so that your repair job is not as noticeable. If you need advice about which type of needle to use or which type of thread would work best, simply ask a shoe repairmen or a leather craftsmen at a leather repair shop. Either way, you are sure to get good advice.

If your leather saddlebags or leather seat is damaged beyond your repair capability or any repair options, you can have custom leather saddlebags made and a custom seat made to match your taste and design for your bike. You can choose the leather type or exotic skin to use. It can become very expensive depending on the type of skins used and depending on the custom leather shop that you use. Just remember that the more expensive does not always mean the best. Look at other work they have done and check around and ask around to see what other people are saying about their work and customer service. You really want to be sure you are choosing the right place for you before you lay down a deposit for any custom leather work. In most cases, the deposit is non-refundable because it covers most of the materials cost. Most of the cost of custom leather work is the extensive labor involved in the creation and the many years of knowledge behind the leather craftsmen doing the custom leather work for you. Remember this when a price is quoted to you and you feel it is expensive, that you most likely would not be able to do it yourself. Especially since you do not own all of the tools and equipment to do it, not to mention the years of experience that these leather master craftsmen have.

For all of you that live in or near WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS you can contact my brother, J.D. at his shoe repair at 972-938-7979. Hours of operation are: Tues. - Fri. 10 am - 6 pm & Sat. 10 am - 5 pm. If you are close to the area, you could just stop by his shoe repair at: 507 N. Hwy. 77, Ste. 1100C, Waxahachie, TX 75165. You can also contact him at: TexasBootRepair.com

For those of you that live in or near WEST JORDAN, UTAH you can contact my brother, Dan at his shoe repair at 801-448-1928. Hours of operation are Tues. - Sat. 10 am - 6 pm.  If you are close to the area, you could just stop by his shoe repair at: 7650 S. Redwood Rd., Ste. B, West Jordan, UT 84084. You can also contact him at: roycecustomleather.com, his business is Royce Custom Leather LLC.